I was (up until today) planning on purchasing an E520 with one kit lens and some goodies for around 450$. I accidentally came across a 'new' (unopened) E500 with the both kit lenses (14-45 and 40-150) for $250 + tax at a local shop. Now this is sounding like a fantastic idea as it's my first dlsr and most importantly I'm headed off to college in 4 months and the risk of theft/serious damage is high. The last thing I want to do is loose/break my $450 camera in my first year away. Besides that I am of course a poor student and every penny I can save can go towards important things like text books, yogurt, and bus money.

Should I bite at this offer?

Oh, another note - the salesman i talked to mentioned they also said they had a e410, now I don't know the cost or what lenses is comes with but what's your opinions on the e500 vs e410 - if they were similar prices. does live view and 2 extra mp make of for the little grip and lack of dedicated buttons?

if not for anything else, the lenses would sell for that. Buy it, sell the 14-45 as a NEW lens on craigslist, keep the 40-150 3.5-4.5 [I like it better than the the new 4.0-5.6] and maybe keep the E-500. You probably want to get a better camera either later on, or right away. You can either start on the E-500 like I did, its a great camera for that, or you can keep it as a backup camera if you get an E-510 or similar.

Get it.
In a year you will be able to find 520 for 200 more, which is a price you would pay for 520 right now. Plus there is not that much of a difference in those cameras except image stabilization and live view.